


A Tragic Sense

by WhenBachDropsTheBeat



Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Murder, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23236144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenBachDropsTheBeat/pseuds/WhenBachDropsTheBeat
Summary: Are we seeing everything about Chris Rios? Sure, we have him and his five cute and efficient IDs to ogle and ponder over, but is he up to something else (as of episode 9)? This is *my* take on the tragic moment that moved Cristóbal Rios along the path he is currently on. It may not be what you expect ~ so please be kind. (And I will attempt to explain my convoluted thinking in long-winded notes at the end, if you want some food for thought about our captain.)
Relationships: Cristóbal Rios & Alonzo Vandermeer
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	A Tragic Sense

Cristóbal Rios had never known a moment like this. Not here. Not this way. Was this what the actual moment of death was like? Should it have all these images flooding his brain? Should there be such a war between the senses and the riot in his brain that had erupted when he beheld the horrifying scene inside the ambassador’s cabin?

“ _Mi hijo_...”

Distantly, in the midst of the collision of thoughts and images and feelings flooding his entire being, the XO of the _ibn Majid_ heard Captain Alonzo Vandermeer’s anguished voice.

“ _Lo ciento. Lo ciento. Mi precioso hijo, lo ciento_.” The captain. He was still speaking peculiarly. In a way that was foreign to him. Profound sadness. Regret. In a way that Cristóbal Rios never imagined he would hear from his beloved captain. “Cris... Son, I-I have...” 

Rios moved woodenly forward, mute, moving toward the still remains of two beings. On the floor. Twisted by the force of the blasts that ended them.

“I had to... “

Two. Dead. By Vandermeer’s hand.

“Orders... Starfleet Command... highest level...”

Dead. At Vandermeer’s feet.

His captain’s words were a nonsensical roar in his ears. He still wasn’t capable of making sense of them when he stood beside the two bodies. He looked down, his brows furrowed and his head quirked a tic to the side as he tried to comprehend the carnage.

Loss. It was the one tragic sense that split the surreal flood of thoughts and images and feelings in his head. Loss became the single anchor that pinned him in this horror.

Beautiful Flower. Jana.

 _Jana._ He began to reach for her, feeling an overwhelming need to touch her beautiful face. He remembered how perfect he thought she was, a work of delicate art, like the earth flower she had been named for - rare, a white orchid.

He stopped himself when he saw the trembling of his own hand. Alonzo Vandermeer’s voice was still pressing itself into his head. Quavering with grief. Heavy with the agony of a penitent, tortured man.

Cris looked up slowly, as if awakening from a dream. Alonzo Vandermeer was standing across from him, separated from his first officer by a chasm made of his sin - two executed synths at his feet.

Rios was finding it hard to breathe, his heart stuttering in his chest.

_Jana. I failed you. I failed you both. I failed._

His captain still held the blaster. It hung loosely in his hand. It was held awkwardly, shamefully - as if he, an experienced Starfleet captain, had no idea of what to do with a weapon that had fulfilled its woeful duty. Rios stared at the weapon. The riot of images and thoughts and feelings were settling, galvanizing into a frightening numbness.

He had failed.

“ _Hijo_...”Vandermeer was trying again, his voice even softer now, as if he knew his words had little chance of overcoming the shock and chaos ringing in Rios’ ears.

“I failed.” Finally, His own voice. Sounding hurt and despondent.

“Don’t, Cris. Don’t take this on.” Vandermeer’s face collapsed into a mask of despair. “I can’t live with this, but the thought that I may have killed everything you are... Cris. Please, son, you must understand the burden is mine, not yours. I wish I could have...”

His eyes grew glassy, shining in the cabin’s light. “I should have found a way to protect you from this. But there was no time. No time. The orders were clear. Exterminate the synths. Erase all signs of their presence. Jettison - ”

Captain Vandemeer stopped. He could see his words, his empty defense of his official Starfleet orders were wounding the young officer. “Cris,” he continued softly. “They would have killed you. The entire crew. The ship.“ The man bowed his head. He was rubbing at his eyes, uncharacteristically sobbing. “I betrayed my ship, my crew, and you - my...” He lifted wet eyes to his chief officer, unable for a moment to voice his heartbreak to a man he had thought of as his own blood. “I betrayed you. I betrayed everything I hold dear to follow a...” His shoulders shook.

Rios stepped over the bodies, closer to his captain.

“Please don’t remember me this way. For this sin. Don’t let this destroy you, my boy.”

“How can it not?”

Cristóbal Rios raised the blaster he had gently lifted from his beloved captain’s loose grip. Alonzo Vandermeer showed him one last act of love by not looking him in the eyes, just merely nodding his head and whispering, “Release me from the burden of awareness, _mi hijo_.”

Blood and brains on the once-pristine bulkhead and the man who was shattered was still standing, still breathing.

“I failed. And I loved you, Pops.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. Deep Breath. Here I go...  
> Jana’s name - no surprise as other synths have been named after orchids - is also the name of a rare white pendulous cymbidium orchid : Jana (Snowflake). But how did she become so treasured by Rios in the seemingly short time they had on the bin Majid?  
> Well, in my cabin-fevered mind, Captain Rios (and his Merry Band of Holograms) have been laying down lots of clues as to who he is and what he might be up to. (IMHO)  
> Buckle-up-Buttercup Theory Time:  
> Captain Rios’ name - Cristóbal? A connection with Orchids? Yes, of course there is, although this could be considered the proverbial “stretch” - it involves Orchids and Rescues and Governmental “turmoils’! So here is another seed - oops, pardon me, orchid- aficionados among us - I mean, another “rhizome” offered for your consideration: The Jardín de Orquídeas San Cristóbal  
> I wondered if our captain’s name might hide a clue to his purpose --> Jardín de Orquídeas San Cristóbal, later to become, Orquídeas Moxviquil was established in 1994 to rescue... orchids. (Get your google on for more info on that wondrous place in Mexico.)  
> Thus, in this story, my Rios character’s lament “I failed.” He wasn't able to protect Jana & Beautiful Flower  
> What if “Cristóbal Rios” - as a secret-agent /sworn synth protector constructs some of his South American/Chilean bio-persona on his (imagined father) Captain Alonzo of the Ibn Majid? What if he was Captain Vandemeer’s ship’s version of an updated synth/“Data”? Or what if he is a member of a secret org within Starfleet(or outside of regular Starfleet) and had failed at his Prime Directive and had become a shattered man?  
> His captain's name “Alonzo” suggests a Latino genealogy. And Vandemeer? Well, Chile, as well as other South American countries have a pretty varied European population in its history.  
> “La Serena”? It’s Chile’s second oldest city after Santiago. And our Rios sure likes to use his Chilean street slang (with his buddy, Hologram Emmet).  
> Why is it Rios who is so conveniently available when the much-loved (and excoriated) Jean Luc Picard is in need of a ship for a very special mission? Who else knew what Picard may be up to and might be inclined to keep an eye on him? (Looking at you, Starfleet - or maybe some other hidden, synth-sympathetic secret org?)  
> It may seem like Rios and Raffia and best buds, but how much did they actually know about each other, really? He didn’t seem to have a clue about her family issues. She didn’t seem to know a lot about the depth of the ibn Majid incident. Aren’t those things ol’ drinkin’ buddies might have discussed in the wee hours, nearing the bottom of the bottle? I think they’re friends, all right, but more like *business*/casual, perhaps? By design?  
> Captain Cristóbal Rios is a richly created character in this Star Trek universe by the writer(s). Someone on that writing staff made the character admirably intricate. Why? That writer has led us down a careful path - with clues in Rios’ reactions (and non-reactions/hello,holograms, wake up!) and even in the ways he is framed in some shots (Current case in point - episode 9: Rios is shown in the blurry background - but still clearly watching carefully - as Agnes is mind-melded once again on the planet? And then he almost mimics that same face touching gesture as he comes to say his “good-bye” to Agnes?)  
> Something’s up. Love the character. I hope they keep him. And Picard becomes his new “daddy” ;-)  
> Thank you for peeking into my “universe”.


End file.
